shut the fuck up about entitlement

When somebody is mugged, do we think that mugger is “entitled” or powerful? If we’re not right wing imbeciles, we recognize that the reason the mugger is mugging is not because he is so powerful but because he is powerless. It’s the underlying socio-economic condition which produces muggers and this is why we will find more of them statistically in neighborhoods where institutions have broken down.

Note the nuance here. The mugger is not a victim. He’s not a hero. He isn’t right for doing what he’s doing, but the answer to the problem of crime probably isn’t simply morally castigating muggers. You’re essentially arguing that the way to stop crime is for people to simply quit committing crimes. If this is what you really believe, then I would be generous in calling you a fucking idiot.

Ok, so what about men, rude comments, street harassment, and all the rest of it? Are we so sure that it is the result of male entitlement and power? Because it looks to me as if the “harasser” is identical to the mugger. It’s not male power which produces these behaviors, but male social weakness in mating. It is the underlying social context in which men experience both women and their own gender, the one in which their identities take shape and which therefore produces the behavior just as surely as the underlying context of failed institutions statistically produces more muggers in a particular area.

Note the nuance here. The street harasser is not a victim. He’s not a hero. He isn’t right for doing what he’s doing, but the answer to the problem of street harassment isn’t simply morally castigating street harassers. You’re essentially arguing that the way to stop street harassment is for people to stop street harassing. If this is what you really believe, then I would be generous in calling you a fucking idiot.